A virtual fibre channel (VFC) can allow a virtual machine (VM) to make connections. For instance, a VM may utilize a VFC to access fibre channel-based storage of a storage area network (SAN).
N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV) can virtualize a physical host bus adapter (HBA) port in a fabric storage area network (SAN) topology. The HBA virtualization technology can allow a single physical HBA port to operate as multiple virtual HBA (VHBA) ports, where each of the VHBAs can have its own identity.
In some instances, many VMs can access portions of the SAN via a corresponding VHBA. That is, each VM can access storage via a VHBA. For example, certain ports can be virtualized using NP IV to allow multiple VMs access to storage while also providing storage isolation.